“For me They Were Expendable is John Ford at his very best, and the opportunity to see this heroic and highly personal photographic poem in 35mm is a special treat. Ford was in the midst of his greatest directorial output with such films as Stagecoach, Young Mr. Lincoln, Drums Along the Mohawk, Grapes of Wrath, and How Green Was My Valley when World War II broke out. For four years Ford produced a variety of works for the Naval photographic unit; some included his own 16mm battle footage. They Were Expendable, which was shot during the final months of the war in the Pacific, represents Ford's return to Hollywood filmmaking. It is, however, quite different from what we normally think of as a Hollywood picture. Ford was raw from battle, even reluctant to take on the project; Frank Wead, who wrote the script, a career Navy man; Robert Montgomery and many others in the cast fresh from the front.
“The story concerns our Navy's defeat in the Philippines during the first months after Pearl Harbor, and the transcendent ability of its hierarchy to function and survive in an extremely desperate military situation. From the opening title ‘Manila Bay. In the Year of Our Lord Nineteen Hundred and Forty One', we feel the invocation of heaven and earth and the Homeric proportions of what we are about to see. This is a mythic work. It is about very ordinary people behaving in a very extraordinary manner. The photography of Joe August with its compelling side-lit tension, the contemplative pacing of the editing which goes beyond narrative necessity, the endlessly inspired groupings of men, the active role of women, and the impeccable casting make this a deep work of compassionate vision.” Nathaniel Dorsky